


Dirty Little Secret

by LadybugSin



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Age Difference, Aged-Up Character(s), College, F/M, Reformed Villain, Secret Relationship, post identity reveal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-02
Updated: 2016-06-02
Packaged: 2018-06-10 00:06:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,409
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6929890
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadybugSin/pseuds/LadybugSin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Marinette thinks that everyone is only talking about the battle won by Ladybug, Chat Noir, and Papillon, especially since it was the first time the former villain has shown himself to be a hero. She's not expecting people to be talking about Ladybug and Papillon specifically.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dirty Little Secret

**Author's Note:**

> I am trash and had to make the ship tag for this myself. This is literally me being the biggest fucking sinner on the Internet. Also, 16 FUCKING PAGES, OH MY GOD.

She expected everyone to be in a buzz about the fight the other day. For one thing, it was bigger than all of their other fights over the past few years, especially compared to a few that happened when she and Adrien were still starting out as heroes. For another thing . . . It was the first time Papillon had made an appearance.

And as a hero, not a villain.

Of course, Paris had been in an uproar, no one forgiving or forgetting about all the akumas made. It was everyone’s favorite blogger that had dared approach the trio and ask them about the sudden addition to their team, questioning all of them about how this dynamic would work and if they were prepared for the backlash.

Marinette had to bite back a smile each time she heard someone say one of their names, though it didn’t quite register that they were saying Ladybug and Papillon a bit more, or how everyone seemed to be speaking in more hushed tones, as if what they were reading was impossible to believe.

As if a reformed villain was that hard to believe. It happened in Alya’s comics often enough.

Her curiosity was heightened though when she saw that Alya wasn’t just with Nino and Adrien in their usual spot. No, the boys were off to the side while several students, some their classmates and others undoubtedly from other classes (and she could only tell this since some still looked like they rolled out of bed for an early morning class,) all surrounded Alya, who was grinning and pointing things out on her phone.

Her friend finally noticed her once she got closer, jumping away from the group and over to the designer.

“You will not believe what I’ve got here! I’m surprised you didn’t text me this morning about it!”

What? What in the world was she talking about?

“I uh . . . I didn’t get a chance to check the Ladyblog this morning, Alya. That’s why I didn’t text you.” Not when she had decided to ignore the fact that she should sleep to pay Gabriel a visit later the other night anyway. She had to hurry to get out, even though no one was going to have their attention on the Agreste estate at the time. But it was habit at this point, since they were still hiding their relationship for now.

Alya didn’t say anything more, practically shoving her phone into Marinette’s hand, an excited grin on her face. Clearly she got some sort of big scoop about the heroes and their new partner, but what was it-

_Dirty Little Secret: Paris’ Own Hero with Former Villain?!_

She felt a chill run through her, her entire body freezing up as she read the title of the latest post on the Ladyblog. This . . . this was worse than being unmasked, worse than people finding out that Ladybug was just some university student.

Her hand shook as she finally forced herself to scroll along the post, not at all taking in the words, only focused on the images present. There was one of her and Gabriel in costume, up on a roof after the battle. It was somewhat blurred from movement, though it was obvious to guess that Papillon was dipping Ladybug. The next picture was like a stab to her heart, fear obviously radiating from her (though no one seemed to notice.)

It was the two of them kissing, Papillon dipping Ladybug and the hero looking like she was trying to pull him closer if possible.

 _No_. No, how did Alya get these pictures, how did she even find them?!

Alya’s hand was suddenly in her line of sight, scrolling further through the post, past whatever she had written and down to a video instead. Her friend hit play, pulling back so Marinette could see the footage.

The video was focused on the two figures on the roof, turning away after a moment to show the shocked face of Alya. “ _What the fuck?_ ” Her voice must have been barely above a whisper, the camera barely catching the audio. “ _How long has this been going on? And what about Chat Noir, I thought he and Ladybug were a thing! Oh my God, this is huge!_ ”

Marinette nearly tossed the phone back at Alya, eyes wide and face completely white. While she knew that her friend didn’t know her identity as Ladybug, this still felt like a betrayal. Alya didn’t seem to notice the other’s expression though, tucking her phone away before looking back at her proudly.

“Isn’t it interesting? Now, obviously I could have just focused on the answers they gave me about the sudden duo become a trio, especially because we all know what Papillon is capable of.” Her expression darkened for a moment, and Marinette was reminded of the time her friend had been Lady Wifi. “But I had to follow them. Normally Chat and Ladybug go off in different directions, but it looked like Ladybug and Papillon were headed in the _same_ direction!”

“M-maybe that was just a coincidence, maybe-“

“Why would they go in the same direction unless something was happening? I thought that maybe Ladybug was going to give some sort of review to Papillon or maybe ensure he really was on her side. Instead, he takes her in his arms like it is the most natural thing in the world, dips her, and kisses her!”

She felt exposed in that moment, as if this had been her unmasking, as if everyone now knew who she was. Which meant it wouldn’t be long for them to learn the identities of Chat or Papillon either. But she knew that those thoughts were irrational, that their identities were still safe.

That didn’t mean it was safe to be seen around as Ladybug and Papillon alone together though, not after Alya somehow caught them. They had been so careful to not be followed, to try and go off in different directions before meeting up on a random rooftop. They should have taken Alya into consideration, they should have planned this better.

She found herself looking over at Adrien, who seemed to be distracted by his conversation with Nino. Did he know about the post? Did he know that she and his father had been caught like that?

“Oh yeah,” she suddenly heard Nino say. “Alya’s planning to go on a hunt for these three and wanted to know if you both want in on it.” He was looking between her and Adrien, and Marinette couldn’t help but feel confused when she saw how tired the blond looked. Did he not get any sleep last night?

“I have not eaten enough to answer that question right now.”

If they were not in public, she would probably make the comment on how he was very much like his kwami then and that Plagg would be proud . . . After she smacked him of course. She wasn’t even that similar to Tikki!

“Dude, how can that even be a good excuse? How could you not have eaten enough to just answer a question?”

Adrien gave Nino a lazy grin before walking over to stand by Marinette, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. “Because I only ate enough to get Marinette to help me with an assignment, so, we should get going.”

And with that, he began walking away with Marinette, his grin falling the moment they turned a corner. He didn’t dare look at her, his arm dropping from her shoulders as he moved to lean against the wall.

“We have to tell Dad.”

“I know, but-“

“No, Marinette.” Adrien looked at her then, eyes narrowed slightly. “You know we can’t hide this. What if he finds out? What if he’s already found out?! He shows up to be a hero and while catching you from that fall was one thing, being caught with him on a rooftop in his arms and _kissing_ him is another!”

She knew Adrien was right. They couldn’t hide this and anything she could do to wipe all traces of that picture and post from the Internet wouldn’t stop people from talking about it. And there was the risk that Gabriel already knew . . . He did check the Ladyblog from time to time after all. But how was she supposed to bring this up? What was she even going to suggest that they do with this?

“I . . . I’ll talk to him when classes are done. I promise.”

“You better. I’m not going to be the one that brings this up to him. Seriously, I don’t have the energy to handle this mess. Or enough cheese.”

It was Marinette’s turn to narrow her eyes at him. It was a steady change, but over the years she had seen him take on traits that his kwami had. Honestly, she felt like those two would need a break from one another if it got to be too much.

“You’d have enough cheese if you didn’t eat it like it was the last thing on Earth.”

Adrien’s only response was a lazy grin and a shrug of his shoulders.

She was about to say something else when her phone suddenly let out a chime, her entire body freezing up once more. There was the chance that it was Alya, asking her if she was okay with Adrien (seeing as how the two had been pretending to date for some time, only to ‘break up’ a month or so ago) and if she needed someone to drag her away. But it was more likely that it was Gabriel, and sure enough, his name was on her screen when she pulled her phone from her coat pocket.

“What did he say?” Adrien asked, waiting for her to look away from the text message.

“You’re right. He’s seen the article. He said that he and I . . . Need to talk.”

***

Her classes had finished up almost two hours ago. She knew that she was avoiding this, avoiding seeing Gabriel and talking about the article up on the Ladyblog. It didn’t help that she had risked taking a look at the comments on the article, cringing at each time someone called Papillon a villain waiting to turn Ladybug against Chat Noir. It was worse when she saw the comments that were completely against the images, ranging from pure disbelief to complete outrage about Ladybug ‘two-timing’ Chat.

“ _Why is this even a thing? Clearly he’s got some sort of control on her. Ladybug and Chat are the power couple, not Ladybug and Papillon. I refuse to believe that she would willingly do this with him!_ ”

“ _um, ew, no! ladybug is too cool for some guy like him. also, isn’t he like. the bad guy or something? i thought she fought against papillon_ ”

“ _lb is a cheater?!?! noooo! that can’t be! lb loves chat noir! get away from her papillon!!!!!!_ ”

She felt her heart drop at one of the latest comments though, moving to place her free hand over her mouth, muffling any sort of vocal reaction she would have made.

“ _Guys, this is wrong. Regardless of the context behind the kiss, Papillon is much older than Ladybug. You know what that means? He’s got age and experience over someone young and hopeful, and that makes this potential relationship wrong on so many levels. He’s probably decades older than she is, too!_ ”

There were responses to that comment, some ranging from the childish ‘ew, that’s gross’ to full blown discussions on how the relationship wasn’t right and that Ladybug was possibly at risk of being used.

She was used to comments about her and Gabriel if people tried to claim they were together, especially since they had yet to go public and she and Adrien pretended to date as a cover. But this? She couldn’t fight this. She couldn’t find a way to get the press to stop. She couldn’t do anything without outing herself as Ladybug.

And Gabriel had seen all of this. The article, maybe even the comments. All of it.

Her phone chimed once more as a new comment was posted on the article. Marinette nearly threw her phone in frustration after reading it.

“ _anyone think that maybe, just maybe, papillon isn’t really a good guy if he’s doing this with ladybug? why else would he do this unless he had some sort of evil motive? don’t trust him guys!_ ”

“ _hell, he might just be a creep. we can’t even tell if ladybug WANTED the kiss_ ”

Marinette felt the urge to turn around and run home. Forget talking to Gabriel, forget ever going out as Ladybug again even. Her phone continued to chime with notifications as comment after comment was made on the article, and she was seconds from canceling the notifications when she actually saw a few of the new ones.

“ _there was never a confirmation that chat and ladybug were dating, so there’s no cheating at all, leave them alone_ ”

“ _you guys are being really mean about two people who might be dating, so stop it!_ ”

“ _So what if he’s older and she’s younger? They’re adults, right? They’re also two of the three people that saved Paris the other day, and if they’re a couple, then there is absolutely nothing wrong with that._ ”

“ _why does it matter? their personal life isn’t something you can control? they save lives? let them be happy like, damn_ ”

The more positive comments brought a smile to the young woman’s face. Even though it seemed like a majority of Paris was against the reformed villain seen in a romantic light with a hero, at least some people weren’t demonizing it completely.

Which meant she had no reason to avoid Gabriel anymore, immediately heading along the path to the estate. They had to talk about this.

***

Two and a half hours. Two and a half hours she had avoided even calling Gabriel to let him know that she was on her way. Apart from his first text earlier, he hadn’t gotten in touch with her to see where she was or if she had even seen the article.

It was probably too much to hope that he had gotten dragged away by work and forgotten this whole thing.

Marinette walked into the estate, closing the door behind her before making her way towards Gabriel’s office. If there was anywhere she could find him, especially right now, it was here. So maybe there was still some hope that work had become his main focus after texting her that morning.

Sure enough, he sat at his desk, writing something down while sparing occasional glances at the computer screen. Marinette did her best to keep her arrival quiet, not wanting to cause his attention to snap to her soon.

She only made it a few steps past the door before he looked up from the papers on his desk.

“Marinette. I was . . . Wondering if you were even going to come by. Surely you’ve seen it then, yes? The article your amateur journalist friend has written and the . . . images and video included as well.” He didn’t show any emotion in his voice, clearly placing his wall back up. “I do hope you haven’t seen the comments people have been making though.”

“A-ah, well . . . I-I have seen them, and they . . . I-I know they look bad, but-“

“Well, they say that this seems like a . . . _predatory_ relationship.” He couldn’t hide the disappointment in his voice or eyes, but there was also concern lacing his words. “Mari . . . Do you feel safe? Is this . . . Do you want to continue this relationship? Do you still want to be with me?”

He was worried that she wouldn’t want to be with him anymore? Her eyes widened at the thought, and she found herself hurrying over to his desk, dropping her bags along the way. Were all the comments really that bad? Was this really affecting how he was viewing them now as well?

Did he honestly think that she would want this to end just because one half of their relationship was revealed before they actually announced themselves to the public?

**_SMACK!_ **

Gabriel’s eyes widened mere moments after Marinette’s hand connected with his face, his head turning sharply to the side from the blow. He certainly hadn’t expected her to run up to his desk and lean across it to slap him.

“What was-“

“No! You don’t get to speak! How **dare** you think that I would want our relationship to end? Did someone discover us? Yes. Did they discover Marinette and Gabriel? **_No_**! They discovered _Ladybug_ and _Papillon_!” She paused, taking a few deep breaths before continuing, “And they won’t know that the two of them are us because we’re just that good at keeping it a secret.”

And almost all of Paris had no clue as it was.

“Mari . . .”

She didn’t look at Gabriel when he said her name, keeping her gaze down, focused on the papers that had scattered slightly when she had come up to the desk. She didn’t want to see the red coloring his cheek from where she slapped him, she didn’t want to see whatever his expression was. She acted too rashly, she had moved before properly thinking, she-

Her train of thought was interrupted when fingers moved beneath her chin to tilt her head up and she felt lips pressing against hers. It took her a moment to even return it, eyes sliding shut as she kissed Gabriel back.

When the kiss broke, she heard Gabriel clear his throat. Marinette opened her eyes again, seeing that now _he_ was the one looking away from her.

“Our plan to come out to the public has now been pushed back, hasn’t it?” he asked, moving to stand up and walk around so he was standing next to Marinette. “Because it wouldn’t look good if we came out as a couple when all of Paris is already assuming two of its heroes are a couple, now would it?”

Marinette shook her head, looking back at the desk for a moment before facing him again. It wouldn’t be good to come out, especially after the photo that Alya had taken. People would start making guesses, people might start connecting the dots and unmask them.

That would be bad for everyone. Especially for her and Gabriel. It would even be bad for Adrien, because then people could start connecting the dots for his identity as well.

“Sometimes I wonder what can be more stressful,” she said, a sudden laugh passing her lips. “Attending university and trying my damn hardest in my classes while also being your apprentice, trying to keep our relationship a secret, or lying to people about why I’m constantly vanishing during a crisis because they can’t know I’m Ladybug!”

Gabriel watched as she tried to suppress the laughter, watched as her shoulders shook slightly, as her eyes grew wet with tears. He knew exactly what she meant. Of course he would. He had kept it quiet that he was Papillon while creating akumas while also being distant and less than an ideal father to his son. He had kept quiet about being the man Marinette was fighting against during part of their relationship until he finally revealed himself to her.

But she had more weight on her shoulders and was taking on so much. Working hard with her classes and keeping an irregular sleep schedule, saving Paris on a near daily basis now it seemed, and not telling anyone about the true nature between them, that they were more than an apprentice and her mentor. Yes, she had him, and yes, she had Adrien, but what was the point since they both knew the secrets she was keeping, the things she was taking part in?

She was just parroting back the same information, constantly saying she was fine if the bags under her eyes were obvious, even when hidden by makeup, constantly trying her damn best to be a normal girl with a somewhat normal life as well as living the life of a superhero.

Gabriel believed she needed some sort of breather, needed to be able to rely on someone else with at least some of the information she was keeping to just the three of them.

“Mari . . . You can tell at least one person about this you know. Someone close and trustworthy.” He was looking at her now, a small hint of a smile on his face. “I know it can be hard for you to talk to Adrien about any of this, especially after you two ended the act of dating so we could work on coming out ourselves.”

But who could she even tell? Was there anyone she could properly trust with this information? Now who could-?

Oh. _Oh_ , she had a brilliant idea.

Marinette grinned up at him, moving over to one of her discarded bags to take out her phone. She knew just who to call, knew just who to trust with this. If anything, it would get her friend off her case about the ‘break up’ with Adrien.

Gabriel watched her walk back over and select a contact before quickly pressing the phone to her ear, effectively hiding just who she had picked to give this information to. It didn’t help that her grin had yet to fall from her face.

After a moment, the young woman said, “Alya?”

He wanted to grab the phone from her in that second, suddenly fearing that she somehow assumed he meant that she could out herself as Ladybug to someone she knew. He certainly hadn’t counted on her to call up the very young woman who had taken a picture of them up on the rooftop!

“- _inette, why are you calling? I’m trying to study. Well, kind of, I’m not too worried about my upcoming exam_ ,” Alya’s voice came from the device, a few words at the start of her sentence cut off from Marinette having to pull her phone away from her ear to hit the speaker button.

“Oh, nothing big. I just have a tiny secret to tell you.”

“Mari, don’t,” Gabriel hissed, looking between her and the phone, worry on his face.

“ _A secret? Girl, you have like, no secrets. I’ve known you for what? Four years now? I’m pretty damn positive I can read you like a book._ ”

Marinette’s grin immediately turned into a smirk. “You know how I was dating Adrien and recently broke up with him?”

“ _Uh, yeah? Common knowledge, even the tabloids covered it._ ”

“I was dating him as a cover because I’m actually seeing his father. _Have_ been seeing his father for the past four years now. Anyway, just wanted you to know, I’ll talk more later, gotta work on some new designs for the upcoming line, bye!”

“ _Marinette, don’t you dare h-!_ ”

She was quick to end the call before Alya could go into a loud rant about never telling her this from the beginning. Tucking her phone back into her pocket, her smirk dropped immediately, nervousness clear on her face.

“So . . . That’s who you decided to trust with this-” Gabriel’s gaze went to the computer for a brief moment before returning to meet Marinette’s own, “-secret of ours? The very woman who discovered Ladybug and Papillon?” He didn’t let Marinette speak, holding up a hand as a smile began to spread across his face. “You’re very quick at picking people to rely on. I suppose that’s just one of the many qualities I do love about you.”

Marinette let out a sigh of relief, closing the distance between the two of them so she could lean up on her toes, brushing her lips against his. “I’m a good judge of character, you know. After all, I did turn the supervillain of Paris into a superhero, did I not?”

“Well, she hangs around you often enough when you aren’t here. And she still has yet to find out that you’re Ladybug.”

Marinette nodded, shrugging as she added, “And she assumed Adrien was Chat, and I immediately made sure she thought otherwise . . . Before I even knew that it was true.”

Gabriel couldn’t help but chuckle, imagining how that conversation must have gone. It had possibly even occurred before he had gotten around to talking to her properly in the first place, meaning she had kept his son’s identity secret without even realizing it.

“Are you sure though? About staying with me? It . . . It would make things less stressful on you, probably.”

Marinette was a bit taken back when he said that, unable to think of a response right away. Had she been young when she started a relationship with him? Yes, but she was also legal and it wasn’t like he had manipulated her into it. She wanted to be with him, had talked with Tikki several times about what she should do since she was falling in love with an older man, especially if that man was the father of one of her best friends.

“If you honestly think I’m going to turn around and only be your apprentice, especially after just telling Alya that I have been dating you for four years without anyone finding out, then you’re damn wrong. I love you, Gabriel. Nothing is going to make me forget everything we’ve had, and nothing is going to make me give you up at the drop of a hat,” Marinette said.

She gasped when Gabriel suddenly lifted her up to walk them both over to one of the couches. Soon her back was against the cushions, and his lips were on her jaw, her neck, feather light kisses peppering her skin. Her face flushed immediately, growing darker when she heard him chuckle against her skin.

“Yes, my dear. You are a very good judge of character it seems. I don’t even know why I let myself doubt what we have here.”

Marinette managed a smile and was unable to stifle the small whine that rose up when he nipped at her skin.

“I love you, Gabriel. Don’t you forget it.”

He responded with a kiss, pushing her further against the couch as he deepened it.

***

Even though they were still called the dirty secret of Paris, Ladybug and Papillon made no effort in hiding the nature of their relationship from the people they were saving. And hopefully one day soon, Marinette and Gabriel wouldn’t have to put any effort into hiding their own relationship either.


End file.
